The Polestar 5 electric sedan makes its world debut

The quick passenger ride we got back then convinced me that the Polestar 5 was going to be a problem for Porsche's Taycan, and a look at the powertrain specs confirms that. It's an 800 V setup, powered by a 106 kWh (useable, 112 kWh gross) battery pack that can fast-charge from 10–80 percent in just 22 minutes.

Two specifications will be available. The Dual Motor offers 748 hp (550 kW) and 599 lb-ft (812 Nm) and can accelerate to 60 mph from a standing start in 3.8 seconds. Then there's the Performance, which ups things to 884 hp (650 kW) and 749 lb-ft (1,015 Nm), cutting the 0–60 mph time to 3.1 seconds.

"Our R&D teams worked tirelessly to develop the Polestar Performance Architecture from the ground up, and it's paid dividends in how this performance-focused GT drives. Alongside the in-house-developed rear motor, 800 V electrical architecture, and innovative engineering decisions, it makes Polestar 5 an incredible all-round Grand Tourer," said Lutz Steiger, Polestar's CTO.

Inside there's the usual crisp techwear-inspired interior that uses a flax alternative to carbon fiber (called BComp) among the natural materials that Polestar has chosen to keep the car's carbon footprint and weight down ("Animal welfare-secured leather is an option).

Sadly we're still waiting on Polestar to tell us when North American cars might arrive or how much they'll cost when they do.